The Holidays
of Asatru

by
Kadlin Waltheofsdottir»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

f
all the holidays of Asatru, Yule is the most important. It is firmly based
in the lore, and it has been so loved by the people that over a thousand
years of Christianity has been unable to wipe out the traditions
associated with it. Decorating Christmas trees, displaying Christmas
wreaths, putting candles in the windows, putting out cookies for Santa
Claus, (Santa Claus himself), exchanging Christmas presents, the "Yule
Log" in the fireplace, Christmas caroling/wassailing, all are heathen
in origin. Some scholars argue that exact original date of Yule is no
longer known (it may not have had a fixed date), but all agree that it was
likely to have been near the winter solstice.

Yule consists of three holy nights spread
during the span of twelve days, which is the origin of the "twelve
days of Christmas". These nights represent the entire year, and
should be spent in celebration with family and friends. This is also when
the division between the world of the living and the world of the dead is
at its thinnest, when one might best communicate with one's ancestors.

The first night of Yule is Mother-Night,
which many Asatruars celebrate on December 20th, the eve of the solstice.
Mother-Night is particularly sacred to Frigga and the disir (holy
ancestral mothers of the family). However, there are Asatruar who begin
the season as early as December 6th.

The next night of Yule is referred to as "Yule"
and traditionally is the night after Mother-Night, although some folks
spread it out a bit. One might celebrate Mother-Night on the 20th, but
celebrate Yule on the 24th or 25th because one has the day off-- which
means more time for preparation and celebration. I believe that the Gods
do not mind this, so long as the holidays are observed. Yule is perhaps
the holiest night of the Asatru calendar.

The last night of Yule is Twelfth Night.
If Mother-Night is December 20th, then this holy day falls on New Year's
Eve and New Year's Day, which is very appropriate. (Christian Twelfth
Night is January 6, because it is counted from December 25th.) However,
there is support for Twelfth Night being celebrated as late as mid-January
in some places. In the heathen tradition, each day begins at sundown as in
Jewish and Islamic practice. So, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are
really the same "day." It is proper to hold a symbel on Twelfth
Night, and make boasts of what one hopes to accomplish in the coming year.
This is a possible origin of making "New Year's Resolutions."
Because it is the night that the ancestral ghosts depart, Twelfth Night is
also considered a good time to rid your home of any unwanted ghosts or
sprits. Some Asatruars celebrate this holiday by keeping a vigil all
night, followed by a bonfire at dawn.

After Yule, the other two most important
holidays of Asatru are Winternights, celebrated in the fall, and Eostre,
celebrated in the spring. Like Yule, we know of these holidays directly
from historical sources that have come down to us. They are not invented
holidays. Although they are celebrated in the spring and fall, they are
not necessarily celebrated on the equinoxes, and many believe that it is
appropriate to adjust the dates of these celebrations to reflect local
climatic conditions. Many Asatruars celebrate Winternights in mid-October,
between the 11th and 18th (although some wait until Halloween) and Eostre
somewhere between the 9th and 15th of April. Asatruars in the southern
hemisphere usually flip-flop the dates, and also celebrate Yule when those
of us in the northern hemisphere would be observing midsummer.

Winternights, like Mother-Night, is sacred
to the disir. Traditionally, it was the time when farm animals that would
not survive the winter would be slaughtered for the larder. Eostre, in the
springtime, is a festival of rebirth and fertility. The Venerable Bede
wrote that the word for the month we now call "April" was "Eostur-monath",
believed to have been named for the goddess Eostra. It is well-settled
that the Christian Easter festival took its name from the heathen festival
or month name. The Easter bunny with its colored eggs is a survival of the
heathen festival.

In the northern latitudes in a time before
central heating and electric lights, winter had a stronger impact on the
people than it does to us today. (Except, perhaps, those with Seasonal
Affective Disorder.) In a low-technology agrarian culture, winter was a
time of inaction, of communion with family, and of danger of death from
cold or starvation. It is not surprising, then, that the year seems to
have been divided into two parts: summer, a time of physical activity; and
winter, a time of spiritual activity. Just as Yule is bounded by
Mother-Night and Twelfth Night, so is the "spiritual" portion of
the year bounded by Winternights and Eostre.

In addition to the three holidays attested
to in the lore, Winternights, Yule, and Eostre, there is also evidence for
a midsummer celebration, holy to Sunna, and many Asatruar observe it. Some
hold that the lore is actually referring to a midsummer celebration rather
than Eostre: Snorri Sturluson wrote in the Saga of the Ynglings, "A
sacrifice was to be made for a good season at the beginning of winter, and
one in midwinter for good crops, and a third one in summer, for victory."
The idea of only three main holidays is also supported in Tacitus' Germania,
in which he observed that the German tribespeople had only three seasons:
Spring, Summer, and Winter, but not Fall.

Many Asatru groups (kindreds) feel the
need to honor the Gods more often than three or four times a year, and the
need to meet with each other more often as well. Therefore, they observe
other holidays. Some observe eight holidays a year, some meet every month,
and some meet more often still. (I understand that a group in a Minnesota
prison petitioned the authorities for permission to hold a blot every
day; the prisoners probably have a lot of time on their hands to
devote to religious matters!) Other Asatruar, particularly those who are "solitary",
may observe fewer holidays-- perhaps only one per year.

Some of the more commonly observed "extra"
holidays are: Feast of Thor, Disting (Old Swedish word meaning "Thing
at the time of the sacrifice to the disir" held in February),
Feast of Vali, The Charming of the Plough (celebrated at spring planting),
Walburgisnacht (May Day Eve), May Day, Loaf-Fest (Freyfaxi), Einherjar Day
(to remember fallen heroes-- usually celebrated on Veteran's Day or
Memorial Day), and Thing Tide (honoring Tyr), although there are others as
well.